The Forbidden Forest, Firewhisky, and Other Things
by SilentArtisan
Summary: Rose and Scorpius are in their sixth year & while things between their parents may have been rough, they have a pleasant enough friendship. But when a fire breaks out in the Gryffindor common room, Scorpius's innocence is doubted. Bad summary; first fic!
1. Chapter 1: Fun

**Authors Note: This is my first fanfic; I decided I may as well give it ago. Anyway, the summary was lame, but I hope you like the story!**

**Please rate and review; flames will be used to roast the weenies who wrote them :P**

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><p>The Forbidden Forest, Firewhisky, and Other Things that Start with 'F'<p>

Chapter 1: Fun

"Come on, Weasley, when was the last time you ever did anything fun, hmm?" Rose rolled her eyes at the blonde Prefect who was practically on his hands and knees begging. As much fun as it was to see him reduced to such a state, it still annoyed her. Then again, most things Scorpius did annoyed her.

"I don't see why _you_ opting out of patrolling in favor of some silly bonfire would merit _me _opting out of patrolling." She replied and looked back at her watch, annoyed to find that over an hour remained of patrol time.

"You have to come because it will look awfully suspicious if one of the professors just sees you and _no one_ else. They'll question why you're patrolling without a partner and, because you're "Miss Rose-never-told-a-lie-in-my-life-Weasley", you'll tell him about how I'm off gallivanting in the Forbidden Forest at an illegal bonfire." Rose glared at Scorpius Malfoy, who just grinned back at her.

"What did you say about the Forbidden Forest? Honestly, it's called 'Forbidden' for a reason—you could be expelled." She pointed out and Scorpius made a disparaging sound, shaking his head in a disappointed fashion.

"You've obviously never heard about the 'Springboard Theory', have you? Rules are there to be bent, pushed, and tested. They won't break if you know your way around them." Scorpius flashed his trade-mark smirk that sent girls either fuming or swooning. "And I happen to know my around that old rule."

"Pray tell." Rose said, barely even paying attention as they walked.

"It's not an 'illegal bonfire' if you use the right materials. Then you can say you were actually doing an extra credit assignment for Professor Firenze that required you to go out and observe things like the centaurs do in the correct environment."

Rose's jaw dropped and Scorpius laughed.

"Careful there Weasley, I'd almost think you were impressed." She snapped her mouth shut quickly and glared back at Scorpius, his smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat's.

"If I get in trouble because of you, I will make it my lifelong goal to find the book in the Restricted Section that has the curse Professor Potter told us."

The grin on Scorpius's face slid off like Stink Sap. "Not the one that makes your… you know…" He waved in a general area of his anatomy.

"The one where it causes the person's testicles shrivel to the size of raisins and fall off? Yes, that is exactly the one I am referring to." Rose smiled and headed for the Main Hall, leaving Scorpius gaping at her, slack jawed.

"You're the one who wanted me to 'have some fun'." Rose called over her shoulder.

Scorpius shut his mouth and hurried after her, his grin returning. There was no way that this could _not_ be fun. Seeing Rose Weasley drunk would be a reward in itself.

"Here, have a drink," Rose turned and let out a squeak of shock, spinning back around in embarrassment. She had _not_ been expecting to see Scorpius Malfoy, the Slytherin Sex god, taking off his shirt. And she had most certainly _not_ expected to be in the Forbidden Forest with the rumored Slytherin Sex god to begin with!

"It's the middle of January, you're going to freeze." Rose said, trying to maintain her uncaring tone.

Scorpius laughed and sprawled onto the ground in front of her, taking a swig from a lightly smoking bottle.

"No, you're the one who's going to freeze. I'm toasty warm, actually." He smiled before swallowing another gulp of Ogden's Firewhisky. "See, feel my arm."

Rose tentatively skimmed her fingers over his arm, all too aware of his Quidditch-toned muscles and fantastic physique.

"You're literally smoking hot." She mumbled under her breath, fingertips instantly warmed by the heat radiating from his body.

"Sorry, what?" Scorpius asked, puzzled. Rose blushed—had she actually said that out loud?

"You appear to be smoking." Rose pointed to his steaming skin, avoiding his eyes. Scorpius shrugged.

"Of course, it's Firewhisky." He said and gestured to the crowded bonfire. "If you're not going to drink, you'd better warm up over there."

Rose set her lip stubbornly. "No thank you, I'd rather not be squashed between a pair of… well, between any of them." Scorpius laughed at that, ruffling his longish blonde hair.

"I brought you out here and all you do is loiter around; brilliant. Come on, Weasley, live a little. Have some actual fun for once." Scorpius tossed her a bottle of Firewhisky from his back pocket. She caught it before it hit the forest floor, and glared at him.

"And by 'have actual fun', you mean get drunk?" Rose set the bottle gingerly to the side.

"Of course, that's what 'having fun' entails. It's never a fun party unless at least one person has snuck in some alcohol." Scorpius uncorked her bottle for her with his perfect teeth, spitting the cork out where it bounced around on the forest floor. She rolled her eyes at his blatant littering and shook her head.

"There's enough of that here to host a weeklong celebration." She grumbled, gesturing to the dancing students all around, the majority of them clutching plastic cups. Scorpius raised an eyebrow and took a quick drink from the now-opened bottle.

"Only a lightweight would say that. Here, take this if you're just standing around," He forced the bottle into her hand in spite of her protests. "_I_, on the other hand, will be having some fun."

Rose watched him join the crowd of people who appeared to be growing even more inebriated by the second.

"For the love of Merlin…" Rose stared dubiously from Scorpius, who appeared to be dancing with some girl she could have sworn was a Ravenclaw, to the bottle he had given her.

"Oh, sod it all." She threw back the rest of the bottle's contents, ignoring the burn of the alcohol and the signature "Firewhisky Flame" that made Ogden famous.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Seems like Scorpius is going to see Rose get drunk after all. The rating may change, depending on where the story goes. Depending on how many views, I may upload the next chapter.<strong>

**Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2: Forget me not

**Alright, here's chapter two! Lemme know what you think of it! **

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to the amazing Jo Rowling.**

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><p>Chapter 2: Forget-me-not<p>

Rose groaned at the aching, pounding sensation in her head- it felt as though a Doxie had danced a quickstep on her face last night. She sighed and shut her eyes again, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

Dozing off, her fingers tangled in something sleek and soft and she played with it absentmindedly, rolling the strands between her forefinger and thumb.

And was jolted awake when something warm wrapped around her waist, pulling her body closer.

Rose's eyes snapped open and she looked around, closer this time. And a pair of grey eyes stared blearily back down at her.

"G'morning…" An unmistakable voice mumbled, distorted by sleepiness, but still recognizable.

Rose sat up, her head screaming at her in protest as she did so, and blushed bright scarlet with horror. Scorpius Malfoy sat up as well, running a hand through his soft hair as he yawned.

"What's up?" He asked, stretching widely.

"Where. Are. Your. Pants?" Rose hissed, eyes bright and ready to kill. Scorpius frowned.

"Is that a trick question? Wait… why are you in my dormitory? Better question, what happened to your shirt, Weasley? Not that I'm all that opposed to the view."

Mortified, Rose grabbed the sheets of his bed and yanked them around her, sending Scorpius rolling onto the ground. He winced and stood up slowly.

"Hm, you're right, for once." Scorpius brushed off some dust from the hem of his green boxers, not a sign of distress on his face.

Rose, on the other hand, was compensating for the both of them. Try as she might, no matter how hard she racked her brains, she couldn't remember much more than a few hazy scenes; the bonfire, sitting next to Malfoy for a bit, and then, inexplicably, his hand running through her hair…

"No, no, no! This can't be happening." Rose sputtered, looking at Scorpius beseechingly.

"What?"

"Do you know what happened last night?" She demanded. Scorpius closed his eyes for a moment and something flickered across his face.

"Nope, sorry. But, I have a guess or two about what might have gone on. I distinctly remember you downing at least a bottle of Firewhisky on your own." He chuckled. "I take back what I said about you being a lightweight."

"You complete arsehole! If one of the teachers finds out, or if someone else tells Headmistress McGonagall… It's entirely your fault, Scorpius! I never agreed to any of this!" She folded her arms across her chest, but quickly hiked the covers back up when he began to grin.

"I dunno, Weasley. It seemed pretty consensual to me. You're not the only one who got marked up." Scorpius twisted his head to the side to show the trail of purple bruises that dotted down his neck and his chest. Rose's jaw dropped in horror.

"No! That wasn't me! I couldn't have done that." She muttered, still unable to recall whatever fiasco had happened last night.

"Well, if you want to keep arguing with yourself, that's perfectly fine with me. I'm going down to see if I can still make it to Charms on time."

That grabbed Rose's attention right away.

"We're late for Charms?" She bounded out of Scorpius's bed and grabbed her skirt, shirt, and her Gryffindor tie off the ground. Rose flung Scorpius's own green and silver tie back at him before changing rapidly and darting out of the Slytherin boy's dormitory as fast as she could.

Scorpius grabbed the other shirt on the ground and examined it. Hm. Unless one of the house elves had decided to put a Shrinking Charm on his shirt, this was most definitely not his. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it delicately.

It held a floral scent, a smell that had trace notes of forget-me-not, but mostly that darling girl's namesake.

Scorpius tucked the shirt into his back pocket before getting dressed as well.

Rose was silent the entire lesson, absorbed in her own thoughts; what exactly had happened last night; had anyone else seen anything; could anyone actually remember seeing anything; HOW THE HELL DID SHE END UP IN SCORPIUS MALFOY'S BED?

She rested her head on the cool oak desk and took a deep breath. And another. And another.

It took all of her willpower not to jump out of her seat and scream. This was not her shirt. This was most definitely not her shirt, because the last time she checked, her shirts didn't smell like cinnamon lozenges.

"Malfoy…" Rose hissed under her breath. "Merlin, help me…"

The bell rang from second period and she darted out the door, grateful for the free period. Rose hurried up the staircase, not wanting to be caught in a _Malfoy's_ shirt.

A hand tugged her wrist and pulled her into a deserted back hallway.

"What's the rush for, Weasley?" Scorpius smirked down at her, his hair slicked back as it usually was.

"You know perfectly well, Malfoy. I don't suppose you had the decency to grab my shirt for me." Rose growled, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

Scorpius laughed and pulled it out from his back pocket. "Oh, this?"

Rose gaped and moved to snatch it, but he jerked it away just out of her reach.

"Come on, Weasley, what happened to those Quidditch skills of yours? Or was that all talk?" Rose's ears grew red with anger and she slipped a leg around Scorpius', tripping him up.

She put a knee on his chest, the other resting on the flagstones, and took her shirt from him. "You're a loathsome, pathetic excuse of a human being, Malcontent."

Rose moved to stand up, but Scorpius pushed her knee off his chest so she straddled him. He leaned up so their noses nearly touched and grinned at her with that sexy, evil smirk of his.

"I'm sure you were on top last night too, Weaselbee." Rose blushed furiously and hurried away, the back of her neck a spectacular shade of scarlet.

Scorpius sat up lazily. "I'd like my shirt back too, you know!" He called after her and lay back down on the cold flagstones, grin still plastered on his face.

"_Rose." He murmured, his fingers skimming across her skin, his lips next to her ear. "Rose."_

Rose jerked backwards in her chair, its legs scrapping against the floor of the library. She shook her head.

"No, no, no, no, no." Rose muttered to herself and slammed her book shut with impunity. Nothing had happened last night; she'd remember it if anything had.

"What are you 'no, no, no'ing about?" A sleek voice whispered in her right ear, making her jump in fright again.

"Scorpius Malfoy, what on earth are you doing?" She glared angrily at him after checking that Madame Pince wasn't nearby. Even in her old age, that old bat had an excellent sense of hearing.

"Studying, until a certain red-headed book worm interrupted me. If I fail this next Transfiguration test, I blame you."

"You'd be better off blaming your lack of focus." Rose whispered and opened her book to a random page, glaring at it as though the book had been the one to _possibly_ have compromised her virtue.

"Stimulating book?"

"Quite," She snarled back.

"I highly doubt that, seeing as how it's upside down." He laughed and flipped the book the right way.

Rose kept quiet, staring down at the page as Scorpius sat next to her. She could feel his eyes laughing at her, but she wouldn't allow herself to fall for his trap. No, she just wouldn't look at him until he left her alone.

"Are you about done with that page? You've been on it for the last ten minutes." Scorpius laughed and flipped the page for her. Rose kept her eyes trained on her book, determined not to look at him.

"What exactly are you playing at, Malfoy?" She asked, her eyes still locked on the text of the book.

"What do you mean by that?" Scorpius sounded affronted. "I'm just reading a book with a classmate."

She finally tore her eyes from the book to glare at him. "A classmate who you may or may not have compromised her virtue!" Rose accused in a strangled whisper.

At that, Scorpius's face turned a delicate shade of pale pink. "Compromised your virtue? What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean, 'what are you talking about'? Last night, or whatever actually happened!" Rose growled, keenly aware of how red her face must be.

"Wait, you actually can't remember anything? I thought you were just joking around!"

"You idiot—did I look like I was joking?" She hissed and Scorpius laughed quietly.

"I dunno, I guess not. Well, now I feel like a fool." He ran a hand through his hair, tousling the neatly-kept locks. "If it makes you feel any better, nothing serious happened."

"And your definition of "serious" is..?"

"The same as yours, Weasley." Scorpius sighed. Rose stared at him curiously; it seemed as though now he was the one who refused to meet eyes.

"Oh, is the Slytherin Sex god disappointed that he didn't manage to shag another—" Scorpius stared at her, alarmed.

"What did you call me?" He asked. Rose balked at his nonplussed expression.

"You're title of choice, or did you think I wouldn't know that?" Rose scoffed, but was shocked to see him turn an even brighter shade of pink and bury his face into the crook of his arms, shoulders shaking with barely restrained laughter.

"My title of choice, sure." Scorpius straightened up, eyes watering a little from laughter. "You Gryffindors really take things _that_ seriously?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's a joke." Scorpius shook his head at her. "To be honest, it's a bit of a misnomer because it's the exact opposite of who I am."

Rose stared at him. Now she was the one who was confused.

"It's an inside joke, and a stupid one at that." Scorpius rolled his eyes at her still clueless expression. "I thought you were the bright one, Weasley. It's a stupid joke because I'm the only 6th year virgin in Slytherin, alright?"

Rose stared at him with a certain amount of revulsion. "That's disgusting… Slytherins certainly know how to get around."

"Why do you think it's called 'Slyther-_in_'?" Scorpius had once again returned to his joking, annoyingly-vulgar self, so Rose felt no remorse for smacking him with her book.

"You're a perverted, disgusting snake, you know that, right?" Rose sighed and went back to her book, suddenly relieved of her stressful burden. She hadn't done anything with _him,_ of all people.

"You didn't think so last night." He grinned at her, head resting on the desk. "And yes, I intend on making you miserable with this new-found knowledge."

"You git!" Rose swore and hurried out of the library, curly red hair flying behind her. Scorpius kicked his feet up onto the desk and twirled his wand idly between his fingers.

He placed the tip on his temple and drew it away slowly, a silvery strand floating from his wands end. Scorpius pulled an empty vial from his Potions kit and stoppered the memory inside.

With carefully precision, Scorpius marked the label, "Forget-me-not" and held the vial in a ray of sunlight.

Perhaps one day, he could show Rose this particular memory in the portable-pensieve Father had given him.

He snorted. That would be the day. It would also be the day when his dad and the Golden Trio would get along, the next Sorcerer's Stone would be developed, and he'd actually work up the courage to tell that damn Weasley how he really felt.

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><p><strong>So, whadya think?<strong>

**And yes, as much as Scorpius may seem like the clone of his irritating father, he's a lot nicer than people think. Just so people don't get worried, he is telling the truth-nothing major happened between him and Rose.**

**Please review; I'll try to upload more often!**


	3. Chapter 3: Fire! No whiskey this time

**Alright, here's the latest chapter. This is what that horrible excuse of a summary was talking about, I just needed to set the stage for some tension between dear old Rose and Scorpius.**

**General disclaimer: Jo Rowling owns the characters, I own nothing *sob***

**Please review!**

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><p>Chapter 3: Fire! (No whiskey this time, just fire)<p>

The brilliant rays of sunshine shone down over Scorpius as he walked down to the Black Lake. With a sigh, he shifted the unwieldy weight of his bookbag on his shoulder-he really should have lightened up on classes this year. Scorpius leaned his back against a tree neighboring the lake and stared out at the water, ignoring the first years shrieking as the giant squid flailed its tentacles in annoyance.

He pulled his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and a quill out and set to work on filling in those last two inches of the a foot and a half long essay that Professor Potter had assigned on dementors. Scorpius examined his handiwork, fanning the ink to help it dry; that looked about two inches. Ok, perhaps an inch and three quarters, but maybe Potter would cut him some slack this time.

Scorpius snorted at the very thought. Famous Harry Potter, the uncle, father, god-father, or cousin-in-law of just about every effing Gryffindor in Hogwarts, cutting _him_ slack? Not in this lifetime. Or the next, for that matter.

Scorpius rolled up his essay and tucked it away in his bag before heading back up to the school. As he tramped up the winding dirt path, Scorpius smelt something odd. He looked around and sure enough, there it was.

"Merlin's beard…" He swore and scrambled to the school; just over the horizon, he could see the west-most tower of the school ablaze. Even from here, he could hear the sounds of terrified students, screaming from the top of Gryffindor Tower.

"_Accio _Nimbus 3000!" Scorpius cast the spell and moments later saw his broom hurtling towards him from the general direction of the Slytherin broom shed. Scorpius kicked off the ground and flew towards the tower. His keen Seeker's vision scanned the windows for the smallest sign of life, anything that could indicate survivors—

"There are people in there!" Scorpius drew his wand again and pointed it at one of the smoke covered windows. "_Reducto_!" The glass shattered and Scorpius flew through the newly blasted hole.

Everything was a haze of smoke and smoldering ashes, but he could just barely make out shapes of people through the blistering waves of heat. A pair of trembling first years cowered and coughed in a corner. Scorpius ran over, urging them upwards while looking around to see if there was anyone up there. The first years stared at him in shock-a Slytherin in Gryffindor Tower.

"COME ON!" He grabbed the two first years by the backs of their robes and flew back out the window. Scorpius looked around wildly—he didn't have enough time to fly them back to the ground, more people were in there. He zoomed to the nearby Astronomy Tower and set the coughing first years down before heading back to the blazing Tower.

Scorpius covered his nose and mouth with the hem of his sleeve, using the Aguamenti Charm whenever he encountered flames on his rescue mission from Hell. He'd already taken a screaming third year girl and two unconscious fifth years to the Astronomy Tower, where one of the first years had had the common sense to bring Madam Pomfrey.

"Mr. Malfoy, I can't allow you to go back there; you'll get yourself killed!" Madam Pomfrey had screamed when he kicked off the tower again.

As far as he could tell, there weren't anymore people in this section of the tower, they must have fled or been rescued by one of the professors. His coughs worsened as he struggled to fly as low to the ground as he could; he always knew that Muggle Studies would pay off. No matter how silly that 'Fire Safety' pamphlet had looked, it was no doubt useful. Except for the "Stop, drop, and roll" thing, that had looked absolutely absurd.

"Is anyone *cough* there? Hello?" Scorpius yelled, voice nearly giving out from the smoke in his lungs.

"We're up here! Come quickly, he's trapped!" A high pitched voice screamed back from near the top of the tower. Scorpius urged his broomstick faster, narrowly avoiding flaming chunks of roof.

He burst through the door and dismounted. A large beam had collapsed in the middle of the room and a boy lay underneath, not moving at all. Another Gryffindor stood next to him, trying to lift the huge beam.

"Help me!" The girl yelled through the hood of her cloak; it was acting as a makeshift mask to filter as much smoke out as it could.

"You're a WITCH! Use MAGIC!" He bellowed and pointed his wand at the beam. "_REPULSO!_" The beam was flung backwards, so forcefully it smashed through the wall. Hot embers showered down on them from the collapsing roof and Scorpius roared in pain as they burned his neck.

"Aguamenti!" Suddenly he was sopping wet. He nodded his thanks and gripped the unconscious Gryffindor boy by the back of his collar.

"Get on the back of my broom!" Scorpius shouted, readying himself to kick off from the unstable tower.

"ARE YOU INSANE; BROOMS CAN'T CARRY—" Scorpius pulled her on anyways and kicked off. They plummeted down the side of the tower and Scorpius's hand started to bleed from trying to pull the broomstick out of its freefall. The girls' arms were wrapped tightly around his ribs, nearly crushing them and the Gryffindor was slipping…

He managed to pull out of the dive barely a foot from the ground and they began to spiral out of control; the Stabilization Charms must have broken.

Scorpius aimed the nose in the general direction of the large blue area, barely able to see after being exposed to the smoke for so long.

They crash landed into the lake, the impact jarring Scorpius out of a momentary state of unconsciousness. He hooked his arms around both of the Gryffindors and kicked to the surface. Both of them seemed to be knocked out now and he fought the winds to drag them to shore.

"_Propulso_!" Scorpius gasped, barely able to keep his own eyes open. Blood dripped down, obscuring his vision, but he had to get to shore.

Rocks embedded themselves into his cheek, but he relaxed his hold on the two Gryffindors.

Rocks.

Rocks meant shore.

Shore meant safety.

Safety meant he could pass out now.

Scorpius flopped onto his back; wand clutched in his left hand, and gave up the fight against unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>Well? Like it? If you did, didn't, or have an opinion that's unique, then go ahead and click the button below.<strong>

**Go on, you know you want to ;)**


	4. Chapter 4: Fathers

**I am so sorry for not posting-craziness, school, and a broken hand (meaning wrist and two fingers ((Long story short, if you're gonna ski down the side of a mountain, wear wrist guards and dodge trees as fast as possible :P)).) has impeded my progress on the story. I'll do my best to post sooner than this!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot-everything else goes to the amazing Jo Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 4: Fathers<p>

"—he's my son! How dare you accuse him, after all he's done!"

"Exactly; he's _your_ son! We all know how great of a person you turned out to be, how do we know that he's not just like you?"

"Stop fighting, honestly!"

"Please, not here. People are starting to stare!" Scorpius stirred in bed, not quite sure what was going on. Was that his mum? Wha- why was his mum here? Why was everyone shouting?

"Let them stare, he's my son and I'll defend him until the end."

"Until the end? Well, that may be coming a lot sooner than you thought."

Scorpius heard loud gasps and he attempted to open his eyes, but they felt as though they'd been lined with lead.

"WANDS AWAY! Mr. Weasley, I would have thought you knew better than this; need I remind you that you are an Auror now? And Mr. Malfoy, perhaps you'd like to explain why this shouting match was initiated?"

Scorpius struggled to open his mouth—his tongue felt like the Sahara Desert, only drier.

"Dad?" He croaked, forcing his eyes open. Rather, he succeeded in opening one; the other stayed firmly shut and aching.

All Scorpius could make out were about half a dozen heads floating around in front of him—to be honest, it was making him feel ill.

"Scorpius, I thought you'd… you're still here." The blonde head sounded choked up. That couldn't be his father. Dad never cried.

"Crocodile tears." A ginger head bobbled sickeningly. Scorpius resisted the urge to gag as it seemed to float around as though on strings.

"Ronald, be civil!" The bushy haired head collided with the ginger one, overlapping and forming a grotesque, lumpy head that leered down at him for a long moment.

At which point, Scorpius fainted again.

Scorpius awoke with a jolt, eyes wide and frantic. What was going on? The fire, had it been taken care of? Had anyone died? What about all those people he'd dropped off at the Astronomy Tower? And those last two at the lake?

Scorpius started to move, but let out a strangled groan of pain. At least now he knew he wasn't dead; death was supposed to be pain free.

"You're awake now? God, you scared us all." He attempted to twist his head to look at who was talking to him, but any movement conjured total pain.

"Don't move! You shattered five ribs, broke your left leg, and managed to split your skull as well. You're exceptionally lucky that Madam Pomfrey arrived as soon as she had." A voice said.

"Where am I? The Hospital Wing?" Scorpius croaked. His throat felt as though he'd had a whole bottle of Skelegrow shoved down it—for all he knew, he could be right.

"Now you are. They just brought you back from St. Mungo's intensive care unit." The voice said. "Here, drink this. Madam Pomfrey told me if you wake up, you'd need to drink fluids as soon as possible." Scorpius felt a straw brush against his bottom lip. He took it gratefully and slurped down the cool, refreshing nectar of the gods: water.

"Thanks," He gasped, the thirst quenched. "You wouldn't know what time is it, would you?"

"It's nearly three 'o' clock in the morning. Headmistress McGonagall brought you back about an hour ago." The voice said, yawning.

"Did I wake you up? Sorry."

"Scorpius Malfoy, apologizing for something? I never thought I'd see the day." The voice laughed, and he could tell it was a girl. "No, it's alright. I was awake anyways."

Scorpius sat in silence for a moment, trying to fall back asleep, but his body didn't feel hurt or tired. If anything, he wanted to get up and make sure no one else had been injured.

"Is everyone alright? Did they all make it out of the Tower alright?" He rasped, throat still sore from the smoke.

The girl coughed, "You were the most badly hurt out of all of them. The majority of the Gryffindors had managed to escape on their own; but about ten or so had been trapped."

He mentally tallied the people he had managed to rescue and nearly jumped in alarm. "What about the other three I didn't manage to find? What happened to them?"

The girl coughed again, a rough raspy sound similar to his voice. "Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Potter rescued them. The most severe wounds were smoke inhalation, minor to moderate burns, and general scrapes and bruises."

Scorpius relaxed, his muscles screaming in pain from his tenseness. "That's good. Did they find those two Gryffindors by the lake? The boy and a girl?"

"Mmhm. They were both fine, just stunned from the crash. Actually, one of them shot sparks to notify Madame Pomfrey. It's a good thing she thought quickly." Scorpius laughed at that.

"So, she didn't freeze up like with the beam? That's good…" He yawned, eyes drooping slowly. "That's really… really good…"

Rose shook her head, still watching Scorpius as he drifted back to sleep. Crazy boy… He could have gotten himself killed; he almost had!

Even so, there was no denying the truth. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, the Slytherin Sex god, the pain-in-the-ass, that no-good, son-of-a-Death-Eater had saved seven lives two nights ago.

Rose remembered the fear with vivid clarity, the overwhelming fear that had locked her brain in that moment of crisis. And she remembered Scorpius bursting in, looking bloody and burnt, and him blasting away the beam in an instant.

She looked at his scratched, fire-scorched face and gently traced the outline of the deep cut on his forehead. From the distance, it almost looked like her uncle's famous scar, but Scorpius's had slashed through his eyebrow, stopping just before his eyelid.

Rose cupped his cheek with her other hand and gently touched her lips to his, whispering the words meant only for him.

"Thank you for saving me."

Scorpius sat up slowly with the aid of Madam Pomfrey and several fluffy pillows and surveyed the Hospital Wing. The beds were, for the most part, empty. Only a few other people were still recovering; he recognized the 4th year Colin Creevey passed out on a bed while Fred Weasley was in a bed a row over and seemed to be telling jokes to the vast Weasley clan around him.

Scorpius sighed and stared at the heavy bandages that wrapped around his forearms. He'd probably dreamt about his parents being here—Father would never come back here, he'd said it himself. There was simply too much history, and now that Harry Potter was teaching, that was an even bigger reason for Father not to come back.

"Are you alright, Scorpius?" Scorpius turned his head as far as he could without too much pain and could barely make out reddish, curly hair. And with all the damn Weasleys at Hogwarts, that wasn't much of a clue.

"I'm fine. Just tired." He pretended to yawn and picked idly at his bandages. A hand touched him lightly on the shoulder, one of the few spots that didn't hurt.

"Don't do that, it'll just make things worse." Scorpius recognized the voice as the girl from yesterday night. "I hoped you're not too tired, because I heard that some people were coming today."

"Who—?" He started, but no sooner than the word had left his mouth, the door to the hospital wing flew open. Scorpius craned his neck again and his jaw dropped. He winced and hauled his mouth back shut.

"Bloody hell…" She whispered, equally shocked.

The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor Potter, and Headmistress McGonagall walked through as though they owned the place. Behind them Scorpius saw his mother and… his father.

Father looked quite ill, as though the mere thought of being back at Hogwarts was making him sick.

"You are Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, age 16, and Prefect for Slytherin house?" Shacklebolt said in a slow, deep voice that rang with power.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "That's me, yeah."

"Please describe the events of Tuesday, March 5th for us, starting from 5 o clock in the evening."

Scorpius recounted his story; how he had seen the Tower on fire, how he had flown to Gryffindor tower and broken in to save the people, leaving out only the bit about how he hadn't finished the essay on dementors for Professor Potter.

"All I can remember after that was flopping on shore. The rest is all just… blank." He coughed and grabbed the cup of water by his bed with his good hand, which trembled slightly as he tilted the cup to his mouth.

"And you didn't see anyone fleeing the scene while you were flying toward Gryffindor tower?" Headmistress McGonagall asked sharply. "No one at all."

Scorpius shook his head. "I didn't think to look down; I was too focused on trying to make it before the tower collapsed or something."

There was a loud coughing fit that sounded like a noise of disbelief. Scorpius watched them all turn and saw a tall, broad-shouldered man with ginger hair walking towards him.

"Why did you care? You're not a Gryffindor, you're a Slytherin." The man asked. A curly haired woman slapped his arm, attempting to pull him back.

"Ronald, stop it this instant!"

"What exactly are you insinuating about my son, Weasley?" Scorpius's mouth nearly dropped as his father stood in front of the man, glaring eye to eye.

"I'm not insinuating anything; I just don't think it's wise to trust someone whose father's a liar and a coward."

"Dad!" The girl next to him protested.

"Not now, Rosie." Scorpius's eyes widened to the size of Galleons. The Golden Trio was here, right now, in this very room. Alright, one of them seemed hell-bent on murdering him and his father, but it was _the_ Golden Trio.

"Mr. Weasley, restrain yourself! This young man saved the lives of seven Gryffindors; including your daughter!" Scorpius blinked in surprise; Rose? He'd saved Rose?

"How do we know that he didn't have something to do with this, hmm? Slytherins have wanted to get revenge on Gryffindor ever since the Battle at Hogwarts." Mr. Weasley growled. Scorpius twisted as far as he could and picked his wand up from the bedside table, muscles screaming in protest.

"Here." He said shortly. "Perform Finite Incantatum; you'll see that I never used any charm to start or light a fire."

The adults looked at him, slightly shocked by his reaction.

"It seems a good a plan as any." Professor Potter said and cast the charm. Propulso, Reducto, Aguamenti, Accio, and the spells that he had done in Transfiguration were all that Scorpius' wand revealed.

"Is my son's innocence no longer in question?" His father asked; Scorpius winced at the cold, drawling tone that his father always took when he encountered any of those from his darker days.

"Yes, yes, things seem to be in order. But I must insist that he be placed on watch, for his own safety. Now that the school knows of his deeds, I fear young Scorpius maybe the next target of this arsonist." The Minister said after a time of quiet contemplation. "Thank you for your time, Headmistress."

The Minister and Professor McGonagall left the Hospital Wing, leaving a rather awkward silence between a fuming Mr. Weasley, an anxious looking Mrs. Weasley, a calm Professor Potter, and of course, his parents, both of which looked as though they wished to be anywhere but here.

Mrs. Weasley attempted to break the ice. "Rosie, how are you doing? We were so worried when we heard you and Freddie had been injured in the fire."

Scorpius glanced over at the bed next to him; Rose Weasley sat upright, the only sign of injury being the bandages around her left wrist and a smear of orange paste on her right cheek.

"I'm fine, Mum. If it hadn't been for Scorpius, I dunno what might have happened." Scorpius suppressed a groan—way to point out the elephant in the room.

Professor Potter regarded him carefully, as though he was seeing him for the first time. "Thank you, Scorpius. You did something that even Gryffindors may not have done. You saved my niece and nephew."

Scorpius's ears turned a light pink and he looked at his sheets. Mrs. Weasley turned to him as well, her curly hair tied back a bit and her face shining with emotion.

"You saved my daughter's life. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't swept in on your broomstick and saved her." She nudged her husband with her elbow, who regarded him coldly.

Scorpius felt a shiver run down his spine as Mr. Weasley turned to face his father, who looked absolutely livid.

"Come near my daughter again, whatever the reason, and I will make it my dearest ambition to land you in Azkaban." Mr. Weasley said slowly, his ears red with fury. "Stay away from her, Malfoy." He swept out of the room and his last words chilled Scorpius to the bone.

"You'll end up just like the rest of your family."

His father glared at Mr. Weasley and set off in the opposite direction without even a goodbye. His mother hurried after him after planting a quick kiss on Scorpius's cheek.

Scorpius clenched his hands into tight fists, his nails slicing through the skin of his palms. Crimson blood rose forth and dripped down his hands, slowly turning the bed linens bright red.

"Don't do that! You're hurt enough as it is." Scorpius blinked in surprise as slender fingers unclenched his aching hands for him.

Rose held his shaking hands in hers, dabbing away the blood with a rolled up wad of gauze.

"I'm so sorry about my father." She whispered, her eyes trained on his bloodied hands. Scorpius shifted a little, resisting the urge to grimace at the sharp twinges of pain.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault that your dad hates me. Nor is it my fault that my father seems to detest your entire family." Scorpius winced—the words had come out far more bluntly than he had anticipated.

"Uncle Harry said that he'd changed. Apparently, he used to be pretty awful… He called my mum a… you-know-what a lot." Rose mumbled and looked around. "Oh, where's that gauze? I thought I saw Madam Pomfrey set it down just over here."

She tended to his hands in a deep silence for a while, until Scorpius cleared his throat.

"Am I awful?" Scorpius asked as Rose clipped the bandages in place with a metal pin.

A shocked expression crossed her face. "Why on earth would you say that?"

"Humor me, Rose. Am I awful?" Scorpius repeated, eyes focused on her face.

"Of course not! I'd have to be heartless to say that, after all that you have done. You saved my cousin—you saved me." Scorpius looked away, obviously uncomfortable.

"Unless you didn't want to save me..?" She stared at him now.

"Don't be thick; of course I wanted to save you. It's just odd, alright? Malfoys don't save people. We're people who crave power and do all that we can to attain it; we're people who step over others for our own gain. Your dad is right—Malfoys are cowards." He sighed, defeated.

Rose stared at him and put a hand on his cheek, turning his face to look directly at hers. "Look me in the eye and say that."

"Malfoys are cowards." Scorpius unwillingly met her eyes for a moment, before looking back at his aching hands.

"You are not a coward, Scorpius." Shocked, he looked up at her, but all he saw was a glint of determination and then, her lips were pressing against his.

The kiss ended just as quickly as it had started, and Scorpius stared at her, utterly dumbfounded.

Rose looked at him levelly. "You are the bravest man I know."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, so they kissed! And they're sober!<strong>

**Reviews are greatly appreciated by temporarily crippled writers!**


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